Friday, February 27, 2009

FIGHTING POVERTY INCREASES OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEACE

VATICAN CITY, 27 FEB 2009 (VIS) - In the Clementine Hall today, The Pope received members of the Belgian associations "Pro Petri Sede" and "Etrennes Pontificales," both of which offer annual financial aid for the needs of the Holy See.

  "The Pauline Year", said the Holy Father addressing the group in French, "by meditating on the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles, enables us to become aware of the fact that the Church is a Body pulsating with a single life, the life of Jesus. Hence, each member of the ecclesial body is profoundly bonded to all the others and cannot ignore their needs. Nourished by the same Eucharistic bread, the baptised cannot remain indifferent when bread is lacking from the tables of other human beings".

  "This year", he went on, "you have once again responded to the call to open your hearts to the needs of the disinherited, so that those members of Christ's Body suffering poverty may be helped and thus enabled to live better lives and be freer to bear witness to the Good News".

  "Entrusting the fruit of your savings to Peter's Successor", said Benedict XVI, "you enable him to carry out real and active charity, the sign of his solicitude for all Churches, for all the baptised, for all human beings. I thank you from the bottom of my heart in the name of the people whom your generosity will help as they struggle against the evils that threaten their dignity. If we fight against all forms of poverty we give peace more chance to come and take root in our hearts".
AC/.../PRO PETRI SEDE:ETRENNES PONTIFICALES                VIS 20090227 (280)


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